


Abandoned House

by Longwinterynights



Category: Fallout 4
Genre: Comfort, Crying, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Hugs, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Men Crying, Robot Feels
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-13
Updated: 2016-03-13
Packaged: 2018-05-26 13:52:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,329
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6241996
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Longwinterynights/pseuds/Longwinterynights
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Inspired by location I came across today in-game. There's abandoned house near Bunker Hill with three Control subject's recordings. Recorded by research Assistant Peters she details her experiment to develop radiation treatment serum and volunteered herself as test subject. For maximum enjoyment (eh) I suggest tracking down this place in-game. I was struck how hitting this little detail was and had to write based on it.</p><p>Have sole survivor being oddly drawn to a house with high radioactivity. Nick Valentine doesn't approve sole going in and goes in himself.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Abandoned House

It was a regular patrol, walk around the block.  
As often as Aiden had passed by this neighbourhood he had never paid attention to that little alleyway. Maybe there was something in water that day. He felt irresistable pull and stopped, looking at small gap between two houses.

“What is it?”, Nick asked. Aiden didn’t respond but gave into his senses, squeezing through narrow alleyway. He heard faint mumbling behind and swift footsteps. He looked at collection of backyards, all crowded so close to one another. None of them caught his attention. One had sofa at front yard with two skeletons sitting.

Aiden approached house slowly, ascending the stairs. He heard faint shuffling and saw previously unnoticed corpse slowly rising, rotting yellow eyes stared at him. Rotted hand reached out, swiping towards. Aiden jumped back, taking aim with rifle. Bullet slammed on the well-exposed head and created exit wound at the back of head. Ghoul groaned and head tilted back, falling back to the ground.

“You alright?”, Nick rushed in, putting hand on his chest and pushing him away from the corpse: “The radioactivity”, he breathed. Aiden gasped, looking at Nick: “I want to go inside there”. Nick stared at the house and then him. He quickly put hands on his shoulders and directed him down the stairs, away from the house. “Aiden, my sensors are going insane. Whatever’s behind that door, you don’t go in there”.

Aiden bit his lips together, looking at the house longingly. “Honey, I”, Aiden started: “I have this feeling”.  
“Your feelings aren’t much of a lead to go by”, Nick scowled.  
That felt like terrible punch to the gut. Did he really just say that? Nick was sometimes difficult to comprehend: “Clearly not”, Aiden sulked back.  
“Alright, let’s make a compromise. I’ll go in and you stay outside”, he grabbed his shoulders, firmly: “Understood?”  
Aiden looked in man’s face, trying to find reason. All he saw was eerie amber as honest as ever: “Alright”, he said silently. Nick let him go, stepping away. He walked to the porch and started working on the lock. Aiden turned around, assessing the location. Most windows were boarded up, garden tables and chairs turned upside down. Kid’s size bicycle lied on its side. It’s like they had kept on living the doom day all along.

Lock let out promising clock. It electrified him awake and he watched as Nick stepped inside. Room was green with gas. Wallpaper had peeled off the walls and couch was full of mushrooms. Aiden clicked on his pip boy, bringing up the geiger counter. It was surprisingly silent from his distance. He took careful step towards the porch. Meter clicked.  
“How is it going?”, he tried yelling. He heard just slow shuffling and gently rustling of wood as detective went upstairs. Aiden walked back, trying to get a view through rusted windows. Time slumbered by. Aiden groaned and grabbed tape at his pack. He resumed the game of Nuclear City 3000.

One new district, one alien attack and city-wide catastrophe later the house porch creaked. Nick walked out and Aiden got up swiftly: “How did it go?”, he looked at man to see if he was harmed in anyway. Aside some glowing green goo on his jacket, he was fine.  
“Your instincts weren’t completely faulty”, man pulled out holotape from his jacket.  
“Let me at it!”, Aiden rushed to Nick, grabbing the tape.  
“I’d clean them first”, he kept the tape to himself. Aiden grabbed man’s shoulder and reached for the tape.  
“But I wanna hear it”, he wiggled against man who pushed him away. Aiden wrestled metallic arm. Outcome could be guessed. Nick tucked and locked the frail ginger in between his arm.  
Aiden growled which was just adorable: “If you don’t let me down right now you will sleep on couch”  
Synth started walking, carrying the tapes and ginger with him: “That’s the only place where I get work done now days”.

\--

Long day had turned to evening when Aiden heard faint knock on his door. Valentine pushed the door open, holding three slightly brighter orange holotapes between his claws.  
Aiden got up from his worktable, discarding the gloves and parts immediatelly. He dodged the parts with swift side steps and took the tapes from Nick.  
“There were three?”, Aiden eyed the tapes.  
“Yes”, he noticed Nick scratching side of his neck. The spot where he had no skin.  
“Did you listened them?”, Aiden walked on work desk, grabbing the pip boy he had taken off his wrist. He walked to the couch with the tapes and sat down. He popped first holotape inside mechanisms. Closing the lid produced familiar little clicking sound.

“I have some things to drop to office. I’ll be back in hour or two”, he heard Nick saying. Aiden nodded, looking at the panel, finger on the play button. He wanted complete silence for this. Door closed. Aiden pressed the button. Tape crackled and voice broke for a moment but became crystal clear in a moment.

Voice started: “February 26th, 2077. This is researcher Peters”

\--

Aiden had utterly forgotten the train of time. His legs lied tired and numb over the floor, body buried deep in rough sofa fabric. Aiden’s eyes absently stared to the side, left hand ruffling the old fabric.

“Confirm 6 sieverts. Rapid fluid loss due to fever. Upped IV intake. All previous symptoms are still present”. He saw Miss Peters, clear as day. Coughing, vomiting, skin peeling off under the labcoat. He felt weakened.

“No immediate effects observed. Animal trials yielded results in less than…”, Peters broke into cough, tape stopping. He saw her horrified face when Peters realized she had coughed blood. Lots of it. Maybe felt her insides bulging and dislocating, trembling with her horrified breathe. Slowly idea climbing, that she might not make it out alive. He slapped in third tape. He had done that so many times during tonight. He closed his eyes, feeling tear marks rubbing his cheeks. Aiden felt physically disgusted with the teeth remark. Dislodged, now in her hands. What else she was losing then? Shouldn’t by same logic also her nails be dropping. So lost in his thoughts he didn’t see Nick standing next to him. His low voice creeped up somewhere behind the void, grabbing him and pulling him back to the surface.

“Curiosity kills a cat but… what do they call this?”, man talked silently. Aiden hit stop on pip boy, tape lid popping open. Valentine gently slid his hand on his cheek, caressing before he grabbed the pip boy and holotapes. Aiden groaned silently: “Why am I so sad for someone who volunteered to die?”  
Nick put the pip boy alongside tapes down to the table. Synth turned and walked back to the couch. He sat down to his left. He put his hand on his shoulder, fingers wrapping around the shy shoulder blade.

“Because you care so much”  
Aiden feeling hollow like a misery, kneeled down and put his cheek against Nick’s right thigh. He felt tears bursting out again. He weeped and Nick put hand on his head, petting him as gently as a machine could.  
“There was part where she lost her teeth and-”, he gasped between tears. Nick put right hand around his shoulder, hugging him tightly: “I see her so well. Like I was there. In the gas chamber”, Aiden lift his left hand, pushing the knuckle in his mouth, biting his index finger in attempt to hide the shuddering.  
Aiden pushed himself up, finding support on man’s thighs. He knew he looked terrible with his four times cried -eyes. Nick’s eyes locked on him, hands rising on Aiden’s cheeks. Clearly this fascinated him.

“But you weren’t”, Nick spoke with soft authority: “You were nowhere near that place”.  
Nick lifted his lips, putting soft smooch on his forehead. Aiden pressed his head against Nick’s chest and synth wrapped hands around him, not letting go in awhile.


End file.
